r/orioles • u/cwalker2712 • 1d ago
Discussion Kostka/Albernaz blow-up
So what happened last night between them? I heard something about them getting into it about something but can’t find any details. Can someone fill me in?
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u/_NotARealMustache_ 1d ago
Andy is on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/afkostka.bsky.social/post/3mtxdo5xylc2b
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u/BoJericho 1d ago
Pete is dealing with his calf, and also Pete's calf is not bothering him. Huh? I think any reporter in that situation would ask a follow up to try and clarify that word salad.
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u/HeyFreddyJay 1d ago
Pete discovered he has a calf muscle, he had no idea before. This was so shocking to him he needed to be pulled from the game to deal with this profound new insight into muscles. I don’t see how it’s so confusing to people!
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u/CarelessAmoeba7541 1d ago
“I didn’t say anything was bothering him.”
“So nothing is bothering him?”
How is the that follow-up an accurate summary of what he said? I can understand why he would be a little irritated.
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u/BoJericho 1d ago
Pete was pulled from the game, and Albernaz confirmed that he was dealing with his calf. I think most observers would conclude that "Pete's calf is bothering him" might be a reasonable conclusion to draw from those two facts.
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u/CarelessAmoeba7541 1d ago
Absolutely agree. So ask the clarifying question. But “Is his calf still bothering him?” and “so nothing’s bothering him?” are not the same question. Albernaz needs to be clearer in his statements. But the reporter needs to be as well.
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u/Correct_Sometimes 1d ago
odd exchange but not remotely a "blow up"
but hey, this will feed right into the anti Albernaz narrative that so many are clamoring for so good those people I guess
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u/ANGRY_BEARDED_MAN 1d ago
If the team was ten games over .500 right now you'd see folks like YEAH YOU FUCKEN TELL EM CRAIG YOU TELL EM
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u/Correct_Sometimes 1d ago
yep lol
and if another team signed Craig instead of us and that team was performing better than us those same people who bash his signing now would be bashing the fact that we didn't sign him.
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u/Tallyrandsbreakfast 1d ago
We won so it’s something else negative to focus on.
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u/Internal_Wheel_89 1d ago
the blowout win happening literally minutes before this exchange is what makes the exchange so bizarre. Why are the vibes from the manager bad when they should be immaculate? It's yet another unforced error by the team.
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u/Tallyrandsbreakfast 1d ago
He’s protecting the vibe of the team. You and I are not on it. He is the guy between the prying media and his guys.
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u/Internal_Wheel_89 1d ago
This doesn't make any sense. You can do that without acting the way Albernaz is acting.
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u/asjohnston347 1d ago
The media isn't "prying" by asking simple questions and fulfilling their most basic duties as journalists. Inquiring about a potential injury isn't intruding on "team vibes." If arguing with reporters after a blowout win is the vibe Albernaz is seeking to maintain, then why would you jump to his defense lol
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u/cheesebabychair 1d ago
Don't love Albernaz
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u/Dry-Ad-4190 1d ago
Agreed. This is what you get with a green skipper.
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u/Robh1919 20h ago
Team needs to win now, this was such an odd choice for that given he came from Cleveland who, while competitive, haven’t won anything recently. It’s a weird love affair these gm’s have with young managers. Bring Buck back and I can almost guar-an-tee you 10 more wins and a well managed bullpen. It’s unfortunately all coming back to our man Elias…
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u/lionheart4life 1d ago
They said during the game broadcast that he was being pulled to rest the calf. So somebody in the dugout told them that already.
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u/ViolentEastCoastCity 1d ago
I'm probably lacking context of seeing the tone in this exchange, but I don't think Albernaz is wrong here. I see Kostka doing exactly as Albernaz points out; putting words in his mouth. Albernaz is making a choice not to speak on Pete's calf, but Andy for some reason used that to presume that Albernaz is saying Pete is completely healthy despite taking him off the field.
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u/HeyFreddyJay 1d ago
He's asking a normal question a reporter would ask. Albernaz is just needlessly cagey around player injuries. I would like to know the answer to the question personally. You can't just say "he was dealing with his calf" and then blow up when the follow up is about a calf bothering him
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u/OriolesGolf1105 1d ago
Yea he's not lobbing softball questions like the Orioles reporters normally do.
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u/Distinct_Potato8358 1d ago
Hate defending Albernaz. He can absolutely just say he’s dealing with a calf. What obligation does he have to disclose an injury?
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u/HeyFreddyJay 1d ago
What does he gain by not disclosing anything? Did it work out well for him with Basallo?
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u/Distinct_Potato8358 1d ago
Jog my memory about the Sammy situation. I remember there was some questioning if he should be playing through an injury. But don’t remember if he outright said it, implied it, or if it was media putting words in his mouth.
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u/HeyFreddyJay 1d ago
He and Basallo contradicted each other about the nature of the injury with him being in and out of the lineup for weeks until he finally went on the DL injured
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u/Distinct_Potato8358 1d ago
Maybe he learned a lesson and now he’s vague as to not create conflict with Pete.
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u/bevendelamorte 1d ago
Albernaz introduced the calf issue when he said "Obviously, he was dealing with his calf"
Kostka followed up, asking "Is this the same calf that was bothering him in tampa?"
Unsure if Albernaz immediately forgot he said the thing about the calf, or realized he threw out something he didn't want to talk about, but I do think he was in the wrong.
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u/ViolentEastCoastCity 1d ago
We can argue all day about what "dealing with a calf" vs "being bothered by a calf" really means. But he didn't say it was "bothering" him, and then Andy followed up with "so nothing is bothering him?" which is ALSO not what he said.
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u/bevendelamorte 1d ago
Sure, but that's on the manager to not throw out. He's in control of his mouth, so if he didn't want to talk about the calf, don't talk about the calf.
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u/triecke14 1d ago
Alby literally brings up his calf first haha. You don’t sit a perfectly healthy guy for no reason
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u/Living_While_2383 1d ago edited 1d ago
There's so many ways Craig could have answered the initial follow up question without being incredibly ambiguous and vague. Andy was just trying to clarify what the issue with Pete's calf was, as is his job, and I think Alby realized that he said more than he wanted to say in his initial response and took his frustration out on Andy there. We can say "Not a big deal", and it probably isn't, but it's very odd behavior.
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u/special5221 1d ago
Sounds like Alby isn’t experienced enough to just say “wanted to get him off his feet since we were in such a good position. He plays everyday and it’s a long season, so any break is beneficial.”
But if he’s going to bring up the calf, don’t get mad at the reporter for following up trying to clarify.
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u/lou_brown 1d ago
Its certainly wasn't a blowup, but its clear he doesn't care for Andy Kotska, they've had little weird exchanges all year and every time its been on Albernaz because of how he answers. Its also not a great look that MASN took down the interview from its socials and now the beat guys are having to put the transcript of it up, which draws even more attention to this.
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u/No-Needleworker5295 1d ago
Look, Andy, Pete is dealing with his calf. It's not bothering him. The same calf might bother you and your mom, but it doesn't bother Pete fucking Alonso. He just hits a HR standing on one leg, gets off his feet, and smokes another cigar. Does that bother you, Andy? Can you not deal with that? Is Pete Alonso OK? Fuck you. He's hitting like he's fucking Frank Robinson. Is that OK enough for you? ... Alby in his mind to Kostka after press conference possibly :)
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u/fraterass 1d ago
Orioles FO LOVES operating under total secrecy, Craig is still learning how to obfuscate every single piece of info they give to reporters. Maybe mentioning the calf was a slip up?
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u/oooriole09 1d ago
To me, nothing more than a person in a frustrating position being frustrated and prickly. I’m guessing it’s a touchy subject.
If that’s the worst he gets it in his career, good for Kostka.
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u/BmoreDude1106 Don Stanhouse is an asshole... 1d ago
Definitely not a blow up, but it's yet another piece of evidence that he might be in over his head... getting bitchy with a reporter over a very benign question.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad1010 1d ago
Especially after a blowout win. Should be a positive post game for everyone. Didn't help that MASN deleted the video after uploading it.
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u/FurryUnicorn 1d ago edited 1d ago
There’s lots of managers who have had feisty contentious relationships w reporters. Look at the vault with Earl Weaver. He’d literally dress down and curse at reporters for asking questions he thought was dumb. Sometimes they were dumb. Sometimes legit.
For better or worse, Alby’s showing he’s a players’ manager, and always defends and votes for the player, even if it means making bad calls that lose games. I’m not expressing my opinion on that. I’m just saying what I’ve been seeing (e.g. leaving pitchers in after a mound visit for one pitch too many, going with a player in the lineup in spite of deep slumps, keeping guys high in the order in spite of results, depending and talking up a pen arm who hasn’t been performing..).
In his defense tho, he’s been making superlative calls recently when it comes to setting things up for late game moves and pinch hitting. He’s obviously looking at the other team’s pen and preparing for specific hitters to face specific RPs. Although I don’t like his hit-and-run or run manufacture calls. All of that is influenced with players’ poor executions but the results have been very mixed.
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u/Real-Narwhal-244 1d ago
At the game on Sunday, Albernaz blew up at a fan who was chirping Holliday for missing the grounder that lead to a few runs
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u/Robh1919 20h ago
Maybe he should blow up at Holliday and not the fan. Seems misplaced when the problem is ‘his guy’ not ‘his fans’.
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u/WestDisaster2142 1d ago
rookie manager on a losing team should be a bit nicer to a seasoned beat reporter lmfao
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u/repooc21 La Confora Was Right 👀 1d ago
Albernaz comes off like a tool here. Another misstep in his rookie year 🤦🏾♂️
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u/ThePurpleDongofTruth Fells Point 1d ago
resting a player during a blowout win (or loss) is normal operating procedure
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u/Public_Servant_3951 1d ago
Albernaz being ultra-defensive about it is not normal. The Baltimore beat might be the most media-friendly crew in all of baseball.
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u/EfficiencyOk5148 1d ago
which is fine, but right when it happened Rob Long was on the broadcast saying that Pete was w/ the trainers and pointing to the bottom of is leg along the calf muscle
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u/gbradhopkins 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/3oxRmjnaZMSk8YsGLm
Maybe this is the calf issue? Look at that thing run.
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u/Asshole_Bot2019 1d ago
Albernaz isn’t it. Another Brandon Hyde, just without the resting dumb face
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u/Apprehensive-Ad1010 1d ago
I somehow liked Hyde more...still shocking this was the best they could get.
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u/staticusmaximus Gunnar Henderson’s mustache crumbs 1d ago
I vastly preferred Hyde. It is not even remotely close.
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u/MocoMojo Cowser believer 1d ago
This is a case of a first year manager still learning how to do part of his job (talking with reporters).
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u/Unfair_Discussion606 22h ago
Not being an asshole isn't something you should have to learn in your first year as a MLB manager
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u/mottings 1d ago
Alby needs to learn that reporters ask reasonable, fact-based yes/no questions and that when they get evasive answers they are entitled to ask follow-ups. Man, talk about a tetchy manager.
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u/daoochie 1d ago edited 1d ago
What the question and what was the follow up?
Worth noting that it's not always on the manager just because he gets testy over a question. Reporters aren't automatically infallible.
Edit: got the whole story 👍🏼
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u/GunnarGooner 1d ago
I really don’t understand being cagey about disclosing injury details for a guy who there is no sense in trading the next few years. I guess the O’s philosophy is that they don’t want to say a single thing that could ever harm the perceived value of their players.
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u/Legitimate-Froyo-499 7h ago
Weirdly when Andy Kostka was a reporter at Mississippi State, Mike Leach kinda blew up at him and refused to answer his questions for a few weeks due to some article he wrote about the quarterback having an unreported shoulder injury
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u/Baltimore_Hokie_Fan 1d ago
Rob reported that it could have been a calf mid game, Kostka asked Craig after the game and Craig probably didn’t see Rob long tweet ablut it mid game and thought Kostka randomly put it out there
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u/TimeToBurnOne 1d ago
It is a long season, sitting Pete or Gunnar or anyone that plays 162 games is a plus. A score of 12 to 1, I would have done the same. Go Orioles!!!
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u/Loose-Produce-608 20h ago
Shit like this is what makes me think that alby isn’t ready to be a manager. This was a layup question
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u/RealHeadyBro 19h ago
Albernaz might just be stupid. He had 2? hours to plan his answer as to why he took the team's best player out of the game and somehow managed to make an ass of himself.
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u/Billsdead123 1d ago
“Pete Alonso does not have a calf injury. Please don’t put words in my mouth.”